Bruce Springsteen & Billy Joel - Only the Good Die Young

[leetejackson]

taxt



[MattyStryde]

haha I thought Bruce was gonna go right through that piano :P

Wicked Performance

[chrisizzysuck]

holy shit bruce butchers this. what is he singing? the vocal melody is horrible. of course, he can't sing for shit and is playing next to one of the greatest pop/rock singers of all time who can sing in any style. holy crap, bruce sucks.

[PimF12011zZ]

your camara pick up the sounds good!!!

[glenneveaux]

'b'z the one who so seems to be forcing things; unlike when he was younger and he seemed to freestyle naturally. maybe he's too worried about his white transplants showing, or, that patti's red (gotta luv her for "not" going the bleach route) hair paint is gonna bleed to white. no offense, but who's had the most face lifts? b or patty? refreshing to see billy seeming to not give a fuck about his bald head or his white hair, which, to me is so admirabable. a breath of originality in a seaof\sheep

[observer9670]

Bruce and Billy are long time pals and mutual admirers. In their late teens and early 20's they played on the same NY-NJ-PA rock club circuit with their respective bands and got to know each other then.

[TylerRobinson7]

Is there a proshot version?

[mytoprecords]

This song has been a piece of rock and roll history...I've known so many bands to cover this song during their concerts including punk bands too. Good Job Bruce and Billy.

[hellowisconsin100]

two awesome performers in one room.

[dgiacomo]

You guys are music geeks

[TheTomReid]

I've just watched this video and, funnily enough, I don't actually care what key the song is in.

Why does it even matter people?

Would you rather nobody ever transposed everything and always tried (and failed) to sing what is out of their range?

[futureboy111]

Toratchi, calm down. Any keyboard player should be able to play proficiently in all 12 keys. Period. It's not bad to use the transposer occasionally, but if someone uses it constantly as a crutch, he/she is not a competent player. I don't know why this is so hard to understand. Also, you don't know what a "mistake" is? It's like, you know, when someone plays wrong notes. No score needed; you can tell by listening.

[futureboy111]

@jgmeinder, the (original key of the) song is NOT F. The F chord is the first chord of the verses, but it's not the 1 chord. The first chord played does not determine the key. F is the 4 chord; the 1 chord is C.

[futureboy111]

As for Billy Joel, I can't tell if he used the transpose function. Even so, it's fair to cut him some slack because he's played the song in C for so many years and now uses another key. The transposer is not used to make it easier to play; it allows him to play it in the same key he's always played it in.

[futureboy111]

Keybordists using the transpose to make things easier to play are not real players--should be able to play in all keys. There are some exceptions. If transposing a non-easy song on the spot at a gig with no chance to practice, I think it's ok to use the transposer to avoid mistakes.

[Toratchi888]

@futureboy111 You are bloody kidding, right? Why the hell do you think using transposition suddenly makes a person NOT a "real" player? It's using the tools at your disposal to make music. If transposition is a function of the keyboard, then how does using it make the music (or musician) "fake"? And who are you to say what songs are easy or hard for anyone except yourself? Besides that, what's a "mistake"? Do you keep sheet music in front of you during other people's performances to check?

[MtzUglyDuck]

@futureboy111 I know your comments were 4 months ago, but i just wanna give my opinion. Who cares if someone uses the transpose function? It isnt cheating. cheating would be using a pre recorded track. theres no right way to play. everyone is different. personaly i love the transpose.

[futureboy111]

@ThePancakeSquad, in the video they're playing the song in Bb, not B. I just played it and checked the key on my piano. Trust me on this one -- I've been playing OTGDY for more than 20 years.

[joshmarsh1]

i give springsteen an a for effort, but a c on the actual singing not the best song for him to be singing, still pretty good preformance none the less

[Gatsby999888]

@joshmarsh1  It's so amusing when plebes critique legends, and think there opinion matters for something.

[joshmarsh1]

@Gatsby999888 hey i have a right to my thoughts i like springsteen i just think that this is one of those songs that will never sound better than the orginal, i never ment any harm but I guess i dont have a right to say anything I want to anymore without a paugie like u coming along and try to make me feel like an asshole.

[Tbe3006]

Patty is hot. Like the way she moves...

[Markworth]

I like how when Billy duets with someone, he's does great on their songs and they go out of their way to ruin his.

[futureboy111]

@Markworth I don't think Bruce is ruining this one!

[sondheimfan1]

1. you people are freaking idiots to think Patti was Bonnie Rait

2. Billy doesn't play any of his songs in the original key anymore (Just FYI)

[Joelesque]

Wrong, too

Billy plays quite a lot of his song in the original key, like Scenes From An..., Don't Ask Me Why, Big Shot, You May Be Right, It's Still R&R To Me, We didn't Start..., Movin' Out. HE STILL SINGS THESE SONGS TODAY IN THE ORIGINAL KEYS. If you're not really sure about something, because you just DON'T KNOW, don't write comments like this. When will people stop concentrating on the songs' keys and start listening to the music?

[sondheimfan1]

@Joelesque a hyperbole I apologize for ignoring facts, I do agree he plays many songs in the original keys but he has in fact changed the key of many songs he plays. Not a bad thing just what an aging musician has to do, many artists do it.

[angelic4296]

@sondheimfan1 Wrong. There's a difference between not playing the actual song in the original key and Billy moving his VOICE down an octave or two because his voice has aged just as he has. Billy plays TONS of his songs in their original key. Why wouldn't he, that doesn't even make sense?? He has made changes to the octave in which he sings while keeping in the SAME KEY, which is completely different. Good grief.....

[sondheimfan1]

@angelic4296 an octave is 12... I repeat 12 half steps. If he were to move something down a complete octave it would be absolutely insane. He does what Elton John does; he takes the original chord and instead of the singing the dominant note he sings the bass note, essentially moving the vocal part down 2.5 steps. go take some theory courses.

[generaltsogloves]

In a side note, is that Nancy Wilson to the right?

[dansante]

No, it's Patti Scialfa (Bruce's wife).

[TheCardinalDude]

The Red head on the right is Bonnie Raitt

[dansante]

No, it's not. I shot the video. Bonnie Raitt sang during the first set of the night, with CSN, and never came back out. The redhead is Patti Scialfa - she has been in Bruce's band since 1984.

[damsbaug]

And Bruce has been in Patti since 1985.

[LesSmith45]

@dansante not only been with the band but is married to him

[dansante]

@LesSmith45 yeah, I know...that was my first response, to which someone responded that the person on stage was Bonnie Raitt, so I clarified that Patti's in the band.

[daward2]

@dansante Not only has she been in the band since 1984, there's a rumor she's been banging the lead singer since then. -.^ (She's Bruce's wife)

[dansante]

@daward2 Yes, I know, my first response to the people who thought she was Bonnie Raitt or Nancy Wilson was to tell them it's Bruce's wife.

[JohnnyTRex99]

@TheCardinalDude No, it's Patti Scialfa (Bruce's wife)

[generaltsogloves]

no matter the key, it is what it is. A pleasure to see. Period.

[Joelesque]

Honestly, people: If you don't have a clue, what musical terms mean, don't use them! Billy Joel lowered the song one key down! From Cmajor to Bbmajor. And he is not singing THAT one octave lower.

Having cleared the air about that, I gotta say: Great Performance

[ThePancakeSquad]

actually billy plays it half a key lower. so it would be in the key of B, or Cb (if you want to get technical).

[Joelesque]

Sorry, but you are wrong. It is Bb. Check it again.

[ThePancakeSquad]

no it is B. i hit the transpose button on my keyboard for half a step and played along. exactly the same. it is, in fact, B.

[Joelesque]

now, transpose it for TWO half steps and play it again . Dude, it is in Bb, believe me. Either your keyboard is crap our you didn't hear it correctly. I'm serious. Billy has been singing it in Bb since 2005. Honestly, THIS VERSION is in Bb.

[puffball9]

@ThePancakeSquad dude it's in Bb, i would know, i play all his stuff, and i don't have the range to sing his earlier stuff either so i transpose my songs the same way he does, i play this and Piano Man in Bb!

[blumonkeyboy]

@puffball9 quick note, Piano Man sounds great in Bb. Not sure what it is, but it just seems.... more personal?

[futureboy111]

@ThePancakeSquad Anyone who uses the transpose key isn't a real keyboard player. I had a dude sit in for me at a gig for a few songs any he wanted everything transposed so he could play every song in C. Yeah, he sounded great, but only wanted to play in one key cause he was too drunk to do REAL transposition. Loser.

[ThePancakeSquad]

@futureboy111 i'd like to point out that billy himself is using a transposer, so according you he's not a real keyboard player. and i do play in different keys.

[futureboy111]

@ThePancakeSquad No, one half step lower from C would almost always be the key of B for transposition purposes. No one really plays in Cb (7 flats) instead of B (5 sharps) unless you're in an orchestra or something.

[angelic4296]

@Joelesque Thank you for that comment. As someone who took piano lessons for 15 years and still plays, it irritates the HELL out of me when people throw out musical terms & they use them in the absolute wrong way b/c they actually have no idea what the term means....ANNOYING!

[scrapplecheesesteak]

Freggin awesome, this wasn't aired on the HBO special. I would have killed be at these shows, the Springsteen set, U2 Stevie Wonder

[JoseyJames]

This is the TITS I'd love to have been there!!!!

[tck23456]

people!! two legends jamming together...take it easy on the octive and range stuff...that is one awesome jam session...FYI- you don't know springsteen if you actually think he can't singa wide range...listen to Devils and Dust or the Rising records

[steeleautogroup]

Thats true

[GForceRush]

Springsteen can't sing this. The guy is a gifted songwriter, but his range is about six notes.

[futureboy111]

@TheBlewis It's not an octive down. As someone else said, please know what you're talking about before throwing out musical terms.

[ektaylor511]

It's okay, you just don't know much about music.

[fakemollyroberts]

buddy, bruce springsteen can definitely sing. try actually listening to his music.

[MB15213]

Billy Joel has this keyed down an octave so that HE can sing it. Bruce has a higher range and he can't sing as powerfully in the lower octave.

Bruce CAN sing and I've always thought that his voice has a ton more character than Billy Joel's.

[futureboy111]

@GForceRush Billy is a much better singer in musical terms, but Bruce has his own unique voice/style and CAN sing more than 6 notes...